{"id":1746596,"date":"2026-02-02T15:28:39","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T12:28:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1746596"},"modified":"2026-02-02T15:28:39","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T12:28:39","slug":"11-best-and-worst-moments-from-the-2026-grammys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1746596","title":{"rendered":"11 Best and Worst Moments From the 2026 Grammys"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/media.pitchfork.com\/photos\/6980ba0c0bc3506d801bf2cc\/16:9\/w_1280,c_limit\/P4K26_GrammysBestAndWorst_2x1.png”]<\/p>\n

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11 Best and Worst Moments From the 2026 Grammys<\/h1>\n
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The final broadcast of the CBS and Trevor Noah era was another heartfelt production about, what else, the power of music. Bad Bunny stole the show, anti-ICE sentiments abounded, and voters will stop at nothing to give Billie Eilish another award. Here are the best and worst moments of the 68th Grammy Awards.<\/div>\n
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By <\/span>Anna Gaca<\/span>, Walden Green<\/span>, and Alphonse Pierre<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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Chris Panicker; Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Joni\u2019s Still Got It<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Patrick Milligan and Joni Mitchell; Photo by Rich Polk\/Billboard via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

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When an 82-year-old Joni Mitchell took the stage to accept the Grammy for Best Historical Album during the pre-show, it was with an \u201cICE OUT\u201d pin perched on the lapel of her gold-sequined dress. While Mitchell\u2019s speech focused on the past\u2014she talked about folk music being \u201cdestroyed by the British Invasion\u201d and her original cover for 1972’s For the Roses<\/em>, which depicted a literal \u201chorse\u2019s ass\u201d\u2014the choice of accessory for one of her rare public appearances spoke volumes all on its own. \u2013Walden Green<\/p>\n

Mind If I Play This Thing?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Leon Thomas; Photo by Emma McIntyre\/Getty Images for The Recording Academy<\/p>\n

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The dudes rocked. Leon Thomas, looking like a Moesha<\/em> love interest in his Canadian tux, celebrated his big wins (Best R&B Album, Best Traditional R&B Performance) by ripping a solo to \u201cMutt.\u201d Justin Bieber busted out a riff and then looped it during his performance of \u201cYukon,\u201d in nothing but mesh shorts like a dad being forced to log off Warzone<\/em> to take his kid to school. And then, Post Malone, with a seemingly empty solo cup in his hand, jammed out as Slash and Andrew Watt faced off. There is a shift happening. \u2013Alphonse Pierre<\/p>\n

I\u2019m Scared of Lady Gaga\u2019s Hat<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Lady Gaga; Photo by Kevin Mazur\/Getty Images for The Recording Academy<\/p>\n

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If they\u2019re going to make everything alt-rock, might as well do \u201cAbracadabra\u201d with veteran drummer Josh Freese. Lady Gaga capped a year of MAYHEM<\/em> with a gothy and intense performance of her Record of the Year nominee, as well as a hat\u2014an enormous black basket with a funnel peak and a profusion of red thorns around the face, like an infuriated anglerfish. This thing could have eaten up anyone else\u2019s performance, but it\u2019s Gaga, so she just came back and accepted Best Pop Vocal Album after the commercial. \u2013Anna Gaca<\/p>\n

Bad Bunny Gets Straight to the Point<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Bad Bunny; Photo by Kevin Mazur\/Getty Images for The Recording Academy<\/p>\n

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There were a lot of political statements tonight and most of them were well-meaning but fairly vague and non-direct, like the T-Wolves wearing the \u201cStand With Minnesota\u201d T-shirts. But Bad Bunny said fuck all that.<\/em> \u201cICE Out,\u201d he declared, loud and pointedly, when he accepted his Grammy for Best Musica Urbana Album. \u201cWe are not savages, we are not animals, we are not aliens, we are humans, and we are Americans.\u201d What made it hit particularly hard is that, with all the fire he\u2019s been under from the Trump administration and Conservative media who don\u2019t want him performing at the Super Bowl next week out of fear that they might have to think about their racism in the midst of scooping up their third bowl of buffalo chicken dip (terrible eats), he could easily have just kept it moving. But he said what he said anyway. Earlier in the night, Bad Bunny told Trevor Noah that he wasn\u2019t allowed to perform so as not to spoil his halftime show, but I think he gave the country a taste in a different way. \u2013Alphonse Pierre<\/p>\n

Guess What? Clipse Can Rap<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Pusha T, Pharrell Williams and Malice; Photo by JC Olivera\/WireImage<\/p>\n

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Backed by a church choir and Pharrell in a Frank Lucas fur, the Virginia Beach brothers did what they do best: Rap. Performing \u201cSo Far Ahead,\u201d Pusha\u2019s slimy coke rap set it off, nailing just about every line with little assistance from the muted backing track. Then came Malice with the wary words of repentance as snowflakes dropped down from the roof of the Crypto.com arena. It felt right. \u2013Alphonse Pierre<\/p>\n

Tyler Finally Blows Up<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Tyler, the Creator; Photo by Kevin Mazur\/Getty Images for The Recording Academy<\/p>\n

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Photo by JC Olivera\/WireImage<\/p>\n

<\/span>JC Olivera<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Word is the whole arena gasped when Tyler, the Creator closed his performance by dynamiting a building onstage, stumbling out looking like the last guy to survive the zombie attack, and collapsing facedown on the carpet between cocktail tables. Did nobody see the giant cartoon stick of TNT in his hand? Maybe Tyler just moves fast\u2014he already released another album since the one he was nominated for\u2014but his segment was the only time I didn\u2019t feel like I was watching the Grammys<\/em>. After the justified beef he\u2019s had with the Academy, a regular mic drop wasn\u2019t going to cut it. \u2013Anna Gaca<\/p>\n

Should Darren Criss Do Hard Time For Mispronouncing \u201cEusexua\u201d?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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FKA twigs (C) accepts the Best Dance\/Electronic Album award for EUSEXUA from Darren Criss; Photo by Frazer Harrison\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

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I’ve spent the past 15 minutes trying to phonetically spell out pre-show host Darren Criss\u2019 egregious mispronunciation of Eusexua<\/em>, which won Best Dance\/Electronic Album at last night\u2019s ceremony. First I had it down as \u201cyoo-zoo-a,\u201d then \u201cig-sua,\u201d before finally settling on \u201cex-ua,\u201d which at least resembles the original title\u2014albeit a few letters short. \u201cDid I say that right? So sorry if I got that wrong,\u201d Criss fumbled. He then began to accept the trophy in twigs\u2019 stead before he noticed that she was walking up to the podium, at which point I half-expected a large cane to emerge from behind the scenes and pull him offstage. Oh, and Darren, it\u2019s \u201ctwigs\u201d for short\u2014not \u201cFKA.\u201d \u2014Walden Green<\/p>\n

Chad Hugo Gets Scrubbed From the Pharrell Story<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Pharrell Williams; Photo by John Shearer\/Getty Images for The Recording Academy<\/p>\n

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This year, the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award, which is still a thing, went to the leader of the lumpenproletariat: Pharrell. It\u2019s the latest domino in the Pharrell hagiography that\u2019s been taking shape in the last half decade or so, which includes an entire Lego movie about how awesome he is. I\u2019ve pretty much accepted that that is what happens when you\u2019re powerful enough and give everyone free clothes, but what I can\u2019t get down with is how the other half of the Neptunes, Chad Hugo, continues to be phased out of the narrative. He wasn\u2019t mentioned in Pharraell\u2019s introduction, nor was he in the acceptance speech. I understand that Chad is currently suing Pharrell for $1 million dollars in unpaid royalties, but that doesn\u2019t suddenly mean that Pharrell produced \u201cLet\u2019s Get Blown\u201d and \u201cExcuse Me Miss\u201d by himself. Or who knows? Maybe that\u2019s the big reveal in Piece By Piece 2<\/em>? \u2013Alphonse Pierre<\/p>\n

Man Crashes the Stage<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Alex Warren; Photo by John Shearer\/Getty Images for The Recording Academy<\/p>\n

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They need better security at the Grammys. A man in a black tie get-up\u2014supposedly named Alex Warren\u2014broke into the Crypto.com arena and solemnly sung a made-up high school video yearbook ballad titled \u201cOrdinary.\u201d I was appalled. I had to cover the eyes of my 16-year-old son, who was in tears, witnessing the sanctity of the event being compromised like this. Do better! \u2013Alphonse Pierre<\/p>\n

Grammy Voters Will Stop at Nothing to Give Billie Eilish an Award<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Finneas and Billie Eilish; Photo by Christopher Polk\/Billboard via Getty Images<\/p>\n

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Having failed to send Billie Eilish home with any Grammys for her 2024 album HIT ME HARD AND SOFT<\/em> last year, the Academy was forced to consider its track \u201cWildflower\u201d\u2014re-released to radio within the eligibility period\u2014for Song of the Year. A beautiful edge case where the priorities of the people who vote for these things disconnect from the reality of the millions of people streaming Billie Eilish. Justice for Justin Bieber\u2019s \u201cDaisies,\u201d I guess. \u2013Anna Gaca<\/p>\n

Conspiracy: Everyone Is Contractually Obligated to Give Bruno Mars a Standing Ovation<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Bruno Mars; Photo by John Shearer\/Getty Images for The Recording Academy<\/p>\n

<\/span>John Shearer\/Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

I feel like anytime I talk to anyone about Bruno Mars\u2019 music, they just go on and on about how successful he is and how hard he works. Since when is music judged on the same scale as your teen cousin\u2019s lawnmowing business? I thought about that as the crowd went apeshit after (I\u2019m surprised they didn\u2019t start woofing like the audience of the Arsenio Hall Show<\/em>) he performed the toothless \u201cI Just Might\u201d and did more of the \u201970s funk band cosplay he\u2019s been doing forever. Was everyone really that moved? Is the world really that excited for the follow-up to 24K Magic<\/em>? Honestly, probably. But, somehow, a national conspiracy that extends from the Crypto.com arena to your mom\u2019s book club sounds better. \u2013Alphonse Pierre<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

[analyse_source url=”http:\/\/pitchfork.com\/thepitch\/11-biggest-moments-from-the-2026-grammys\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/media.pitchfork.com\/photos\/6980ba0c0bc3506d801bf2cc\/16:9\/w_1280,c_limit\/P4K26_GrammysBestAndWorst_2x1.png”] Columns 11 Best and Worst Moments From the 2026 Grammys The final broadcast of the CBS and Trevor Noah era was another heartfelt production about, what else, the power of music. Bad Bunny stole the show, anti-ICE sentiments abounded, and voters will stop at nothing to give Billie Eilish another award. Here […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,54],"class_list":["post-1746596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-pitchfork-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1746596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1746596"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1746596\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1746596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1746596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1746596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}